Logic [Trival: Success] - This is a bad idea.

[disco-elysium-via-polls]

i'm going to be honest: when i said 'an investigation based game' i was thinking of obra dinn-likes, and those aren't really choice-based

[disco-elysium-via-polls]

By sheer coincidence, though, I do have a choice-based investigative game I'd forgotten about

[disco-elysium-via-polls]

i'm going to be honest: when i said 'an investigation based game' i was thinking of obra dinn-likes, and those aren't really choice-based

[disco-elysium-via-polls]

not promising anything at the moment, just wanting to get a general feel for what people are interested in:

of the following choice-based narrative games, what appeals most to you

a murder mystery game

a comedy game

an investigation-based game

[show results]

Voting ended onFeb 2, 2025

[tubrplaysdiscoelysium]

YOU - Consult with Lieutenant Kitsuragi

KIM KITSURAGI - "Yes?"

YOU -

"Tell me about the case."

"I think you should know that I can't remember *anything*."

"Uhm. I want to talk about *you*."

"You seem to be following me."

"Nothing" [Leave.]

Voting ended onJan 25, 2025

[disco-elysium-via-polls]

Final Thoughts

All in all, I think this blog has been a great success. My goal when I started this was to show off as much of the game as possible in a single playthrough, and I think I've achieved that.

If there's anything I could change, it's that I did the earliest parts of this playthrough without knowledge of FAYDE, and I wish I could redo them while able to see which choices mattered.

I'll also admit that as the blog went on I started writing longer and longer updates and leaving less up to the polls. Partially this was because, with FAYDE, I could see which choices had long-term consequences (it's fewer than it seems), and partially because after a while I felt I could predict which way polls would go (like when it came to political choices, for example). Then again, there were a couple of times the results genuinely surprised me, so maybe the game would have gone a different way if I let you make more choices? Still, I think this was best decision, as it let us actually finish the game in a reasonable time frame.

As to the playthrough itself, this was a very successful run of Disco Elysium, by which I mean we got pretty much all of the best possible outcomes. Getting both Wompty-Dompty-Dom Centre and Actual Art Degree allowed us to get much more XP than you would on a 'blind' playthrough and that combined with some solid luck got us some pretty high rolls. That's... nice, but in some ways I can't help but feel it goes against the spirit of the game. So much of DE is about failure and recovery and the mechanics play into that, and I can't help but wonder if we cheated ourselves out of the experience of failing more often.

But, that's all of my thoughts about how the playthrough went (though I'm open to questions if you have any). That brings us to the end of Disco Elysium, and the end of this blog... at least for now.

I'm going to be taking a break for a while longer, but I am open to the idea of playing other games in the future. I have a few ideas myself, but if you have any suggestions for choice-based narrative games (especially ones that are text-heavy), I'd like to hear them.

[disco-elysium-via-polls]

favorite word?

Truly bizarre question thank you.

There are a lot of great words in the English language, such as: Mellifluous. Synecdoche. Raconteur. Effluvia. Zephyr. Metonymy.

As words go, however, I think it is hard to do better than 'syzygy'.

[disco-elysium-via-polls]

Given the way this game was effectively stolen from its original creators, I can't recommend you purchase it. But if you were to acquire a copy of the game, here are some things you could try to do or see that we didn't in this playthrough:

Get your *shit* together.

Shoot down the body.

Encounter a mysterious pair of eyes.

Hear out Measurehead's race theory.

Jump over the railing to the policeman's cloak.

Find a fourth way into the harbour.

Convince Kim to let you work on his Kineema.

Convince the Deserter that you are a real communist.

Get Kim to wear the jacket. You know the one.

Order a pie.

Find out about another cryptid.

Steal Gaston's sandwich.

Convince Rene you're a war hero.

Recruit a new detective.

Fail the Authority check to convince Titus to listen to you.

Succeed at dodging the first shot in the tribunal.

Fail to save Ruby.

Fail to save Kim.

Become THE ICEBREAKER.

Truly embody the spirit of Kraz Mazov.

Visit the fair.

Organize a committee.

Re-conceptualize yourself.

Buy the lamppost from Roy.

Throw away Dora's letter.

Cause a shitstorm.

Recover your address.

Learn the victim's real name.

Call in sick.

Discover what Kim wanted to be when he grew up.

Arrest Klaasje.

Figure out what kind of animal you want to be.

[disco-elysium-via-polls]

[id: a reblog by tumblr user @felagund-fiollaigean with the tag '#find and sniff some speed']

find speed and sniff it

find booze and drink it

find smokes and smoke them

find pyrholidon and slurp it

jack off

But also:

complete day one without taking any money from Joyce or Evrart

call in to your local radio station

use the fridge in the Doomed Commercial Area

finish a game of petanque

[disco-elysium-via-polls]

Given the way this game was effectively stolen from its original creators, I can't recommend you purchase it. But if you were to acquire a copy of the game, here are some things you could try to do or see that we didn't in this playthrough:

Get your *shit* together.

Shoot down the body.

Encounter a mysterious pair of eyes.

Hear out Measurehead's race theory.

Jump over the railing to the policeman's cloak.

Find a fourth way into the harbour.

Convince Kim to let you work on his Kineema.

Convince the Deserter that you are a real communist.

Get Kim to wear the jacket. You know the one.

Order a pie.

Find out about another cryptid.

Steal Gaston's sandwich.

Convince Rene you're a war hero.

Recruit a new detective.

Fail the Authority check to convince Titus to listen to you.

Succeed at dodging the first shot in the tribunal.

Fail to save Ruby.

Fail to save Kim.

Become THE ICEBREAKER.

Truly embody the spirit of Kraz Mazov.

Visit the fair.

Organize a committee.

Re-conceptualize yourself.

Buy the lamppost from Roy.

Throw away Dora's letter.

Cause a shitstorm.

Recover your address.

Learn the victim's real name.

Call in sick.

Discover what Kim wanted to be when he grew up.

Arrest Klaasje.

Figure out what kind of animal you want to be.

[disco-elysium-via-polls]

Today I'd like to show all the Thoughts that we encountered in the game, but didn't end up Internalizing. I think that the more you see of these, the more of a complete picture you get of Harry.

GUILLAUME LE MILLION

Temporary research bonus: -1 Logic: Head in the clouds

PROBLEM:

Whatever happened to Guillaume Le Million, who -- with his amber mane and sparkling teeth -- beguiled the tattered remains of the nation? While you suffered and suffered, did he dematerialize in a cloud of cocaine dust? Or did he simply stand in the corner and melt into the slendering *New* lines of some starlit boîte de nuit twenty years ago? Spare a thought for his great ass too! Or wait... maybe he became a police officer in Revachol West! Hmm...

Completion bonuses: +1 Pain Threshold: Blood oxygen is boring All PSY learning caps raised by one

SOLUTION:

Bad news: Guillaume le Million did not become a cop. In '38 he went on a tour to the Hsin-Yao province in Safre, where he died of auto-erotic asphyxiation. His body was found hanging from a decorative dragon tree in his junior suite, amid drug paraphernalia, unwholesome objects, and the Sylvia Trainor single "Wonderland" skipping in the background. And yes, you can take this as a metaphor for Revachol in the Thirties. And also as a warning.

DETECTIVE COSTEAU

Temporary research bonus: -2 Conceptualization: An idiotic idea

PROBLEM:

Detective Raphaël Ambrosius Costeau -- when you say it, it feels like you're taking a bite of lemon meringue while sitting on the terrace of a seaside cafe. On a cool summer day. In Sur-La-Clef. It's everything you're *not*. You haven't created many things during your stay in Martinaise, but you've created this. A fancy, sophisticated name that makes you sound intelligent. And that no one seems to *acknowledge*. Don't you feel like you deserve a reward for coming up with something so special? And what would that reward *be*?

Completion bonuses: +1 Savoir Faire: This one sounds fancy, let's have this +1 Esprit de Corps: Yup, fancy, let's have this one too

SOLUTION:

Monsieur Costeau, the reward for coming up with your classy new name has arrived. What are the attributes Detective Costeau should gain in? *Obviously* Savoir Faire and Esprit de Corps. You know *exactly* what they do and what those words mean. They're *refined*. Like *you*. You have a ton of that fancy stuff. And if the world can't accept Raphaël Ambrosius is your name -- you will always be Detective Costeau to yourself. R.A. Costeau -- sophisticated culture-detective. Specializes in ancient things and art.

BOIADEIRO

Temporary research bonus: -1 Physical Instrument: Astra Country

PROBLEM:

It has been brought to your attention that there are men who live by the law of the land and the strength of their arms. Sunburnt, rugged, smoking men who explored the great rivery veins of upper-Magritte and tamed the Mundi wilds. Frontiersmen, cow-herders, philosophers -- the *boiadeiros*... with a gun in one hand and an unfiltered cigarette between their lips, these men made their own rules. What would it take for you to become one too?

Completion bonuses: -1 Esprit de Corps: Lone wolf Cigarettes give +2 INT

SOLUTION:

Smoking, Harry. It will take a lot of tobacco-smoking for you to become a *boiadeiro*. Twin cigarettes fused to your lips and one hanging out of your nostril. In these tame, cultured times, without the sky’s dome above your head, the only way to be a true Franconigerian individualist is to smoke a lot of cigarettes. Light one up immediately. The smell of coffee brewing over a fire pit, a chestnut-flavoured morning. Welcome to Astra Country.

I'm not sure we ever actually encountered cigarettes in the course of our playthrough. Normally, they give +1 INT at the cost of 1 Health -- this improves the effect.

MAGNESIUM-BASED LIFEFORM

Temporary research bonus: -1 Shivers: No shakes

PROBLEM:

It is generally understood that human beings are carbon-based organisms, fusing little carbon tubes together to form complex, mushy structures capable of thought, love, and locomotion. It is also known that these structures sometimes like to “take the edge off” by consuming ethanol, amphetamine, etc. In such cases, it is important to supplement your body with magnesium. Tired? Mag it! Down? Mag time! Liver damage? MAXIMUM MAG! Some people say magnesium doesn’t really do anything and you just need to quit. What do we tell them?

Completion bonuses: +2 Volition: Magnesium receptacle glands -1 Logic: No such thing, man

SOLUTION:

We tell them: HELL NO. You’re about to become a magnesium-based lifeform. The age of the primitive carbon-man is done. No longer must mankind rely on slow-working background radiation to take us further into our genetic destiny. This is the era of guided evolution, and magnesium is the key. You are the first of your species. The next step in human evolution. An advanced magnesium proto-man who mags it up, drinks it down, and sniffs it sideways!

A pretty useful Thought if you have low PSY.

BRINGING OF THE LAW (LAW-JAW)

Temporary research bonus: -1 Rhetoric: Weird jaw

PROBLEM:

Hey, so a little observation. It's all cool, man. Don't freak out, but every time you say “I am the law“ -- and you say it *a lot*, it's basically *hello* for you -- your jaw does this *weird thing*. It sort of shifts sideways, hanging off your face at a jaunty angle, while the word *law* sounds oddly guttural and low. It's... strange. You wouldn't notice it, but after saying you're the law eighty thousand times, the question *does* come up: why *do* you have Law Jaw?

Completion bonuses: Learning cap for Hand/Eye Coordination raised to 6 Succeed all Hand/Eye Coordination passives -1 Rhetoric: Jaw still weird

SOLUTION:

Okay, so. We now know why you have *Law Jaw*. Why you say *the law* in a weird manner, and why your jaw does that thing. You had polio as a child. You hadn’t gotten vaccinated. It must've been right after the Revolution -- not a lot of vaccine going around then. So you got infantile paralysis due to polio and this jaw thing is a complication from that. Admittedly, it’s not very funny. But you *overcame* it! This little infant survived and became a sharpshooting supercop. So: fuck you, polio!

This is a pretty useful Thought *and* it tells us something, in my opinion, pretty important about Harry.

ANTI-OBJECT TASK FORCE

Temporary research bonus: -2 Pain Threshold: Hurts!

PROBLEM:

Take a look at your hands. See how bruised they are? See those little scars? This is Exhibit A. The material world is holding you back. Containers, mailboxes, doors, chairs -- they are all your enemies. Always have been. Atoms themselves are in on the conspiracy, forming shapes and structures that you hate. You are energy stuck in a body. You are spirit trapped in matter. Break free! Beat up that lamp post! Let it know just how much objects *suck*.

Completion bonuses: Attacking physical objects heals damage +1 Pain Threshold: Thick skin All FYS learning caps raised by one

SOLUTION:

Behold: the Anti-Object Task Force has assembled. God's avenging angel, arrayed against the lower emanations of the Darkened One: shoe racks, tape recorders, motor carriages. And doors. So many doors. You're not just pounding it all to pieces. You’re *reforging* the universe. From the anvil of the heavens to the worms below. Indulge in it. Be bold. Have an *impact* on the shape of Creation. Out of the furnace of your rage -- a new reality! Also, you should trash your room *again*.

The first bonus here is not as useful as it sounds, because by the time you unlock this Thought, you'll have already been through most of the attackable things in the game. The rest is still pretty good, though.

DATE OF BIRTH GENERATOR

Temporary research bonus: None

PROBLEM:

Your face looks like it’s 58 and your body feels like it’s 60. Your mind feels like it’s lived for one day or a hundred. Both longer than they ought to be, the day and the century.... But for how long, then, has this thing attached to your sentience walked the planet’s crust? Time to start racking those brains of yours, Elder One. When and where were you born?

Completion bonuses: Learning cap for Logic raised to 4 -1 difficulty to all Physique passives

SOLUTION:

You were born in the year ‘07, in the last year of the Commune of Revachol, right before it fell. In the Old Military Hospital, on the ground floor where people usually came to die, during a snowstorm. The Revolution had about one year left to go and the fires were still burning bright. There were explosions in the blizzard. This was 44 years ago. You are 44 years old. The bloating might never leave your face, but beneath it -- you still have some years. You still have some hope.

I believe you can talk about this with Kim once you have the answer.

ARNO VAN EYCK

Temporary research bonus: +1 Interfacing

PROBLEM:

The question won’t leave you – why did the melody line from a broken and discarded tape fit perfectly into a song played by some speedfreaks in a frozen tent? Can it be a coincidence? Maybe it’s the hand of the Man-Machine himself, in his attempt to craft a perfect song. Maybe Egg Head is actually Arno van Eyck in disguise!? Eyck? Egg? Hmm...

Completion bonuses: All white Motorics checks unlocked Reveals Arno Van Eyck gig posters in the world

SOLUTION:

Okay, so Egg Head is clearly not Van Eyck in disguise. Van Eyck is an Oranjese disc jockey -- but those people get around. Especially in Revachol, in the clubs on Boogie Street. Perhaps he stayed here for a short stint and discarded part of the song he was working on. Just threw it away. And then it ended up in the hawthorn tree. But why? Did he think it was *retrograde*? It wasn’t. Perhaps he caught a glimpse of the future and did not want for it to arrive just yet. Perhaps the city whispered the topline to him and he was frightened by it?

We've seen variations on this one before for other skill categories. The Arno Van Eyck posters give you additional orbs to click, which synergises nicely with Jamais Vu.

Egg Head also directly told us that his name was in reference to Van Eyck at one point, so that was not really much of a mystery.

SEARCHLIGHT DIVISION

Temporary research bonus: None

PROBLEM:

Missing persons cases just really get to you. It's hard watching people worry about their loved ones – the little nervous movements, the dark rings around their eyes from sleepless nights. And even if there are no loved ones waiting – you like to have all your ducks in a row, and it really bothers you when whole entire people aren't accounted for.

Completion bonus: +2 Perception: Clear-eyed pursuit of truth

SOLUTION:

You've sharpened your senses by being on the lookout for missing persons. Now you notice more of what's happening around you. Perhaps when you're done with this case, you can join the Searchlight Division of the RCM, and find every Revacholian that's ever gone missing without a trace (there is undoubtedly a backlog of such cases). Because you never know, a missing person could be just around the edge, barely out of sight.

ONE MORE DOOR

Temporary research bonus: +1 Half Light: What is behind it?

PROBLEM:

God dammit, it cannot be. A disgrace! That door on the coast... you remember the one, right? The one that leads to the abandoned supply depot? Why, in the name of all that's holy, does it not open? *Why*?! There *has* to be a way to get through that unopenable door. By gods, you're the police -- all doors are supposed to open before you. What will the others at the precinct think if you can't open a goddamn door? There must be a way.

Completion bonuses: -1 Half Light: No fear All PSY white checks unlocked

SOLUTION:

There is no way to open the supply depot door. Accept it. You cannot open *all the doors*. You have to integrate this into your character. Some doors will forever remain closed. Even if every single other door will open at one time or another, maybe to a key, or maybe to some sort of tool meant for opening doors... But this one will never accede to such commands. A realization crucial to personal growth. Crucial.

There will always be one more door.

HARDCORE AESTHETIC

Temporary research bonus: -2 Interfacing: Fuck grammar!

PROBLEM:

Not only have you internalized the Hard Core Aesthetic, you’ve also *contributed* to it. How harder-core could you possibly become? Low-core people come around you to correct your “typos”: it’s “Hardcore” here, “hard-core” there, “Hardorcore” in a third instant -- what’s going on? Those aren’t typos, man, that’s how core hardness works. If you don’t know “hard-core” from “Our Happy Hardcore,” what the fuck are we even talking about?

Completion bonuses: +1 Endurance: Really useful for doing drugs +1 Volition: Same thing, Hardman

SOLUTION:

Oh yes. Drugs. We’re talking about drugs. Let’s face it, these flirtations with the Hard Core Aesthetic have all been leading up to one question: Can I do drugs *harder* now that I’m a Hard Cop? And the answer is: yes. You can. You can do one more blast of pyrholidon and yellow shit-powder, you can even pull a ciggie and a lager on top of that. There. You’ve *truly* made the Hardcore your own thing now.

Despite what it says on the tin, this actually just gives you more health.

THE INSULINDIAN MIRACLE

Temporary research bonus: None

PROBLEM:

You were reminded of a poem, somewhere deep inside you, the translation of which you don't remember… "Nulla sarà cambiato della luce!” it begins. “Colori come grigio e marrone / Tutti stampati uno sull’altro / Trovai un vuoto / Una macchia Bianca / Gli altri guardarono / “Che bella giornata! Che bel tempo!” / Ma sentii la rotativa." You were reminded of it when you heard about the discovery of Insulinde. But what does it mean? And how do you know it by heart?

Completion bonuses: All white checks unlocked

SOLUTION:

It’s easy. You know the poem by heart because you were taught it at school. It is one of the Volta do Mar mantras repeated on the voyage that lead to the discovery of the Insulindian isola. And the words mean: “Nothing will be changed about the light! / Colours like grey and brown / All printed on top of each other / I found a blank white spot / All the others looked up: / ‘What a beautiful day! What beautiful weather!’ / But all I heard was the printing machine." What strange words to celebrate a new world.

You can only unlock this Thought when talking with Joyce after the confrontation with Ruby, making it a really useful tool if you have anything left to do in the game at that point.

And that's all the Thoughts that we encountered in our playthrough, aside from the ones we already saw in the game proper. We did also *technically* get to the point where we could have seen the Thoughts for the moralist and ultraliberal political alignments, even if we chose not to opt into them. So, I'll show those too:

KINGDOM OF CONSCIENCE

Temporary research bonus: -2 Half Light: Calm water

PROBLEM:

Heartache is powerful, but democracy is *subtle*. Incrementally, you begin to notice a change in the weather. When it snows, the flakes are softer when they stick to your worry-worn forehead. When it rains, the rain is warmer. Democracy is coming to the Administrative Region. The ideals of Dolorian humanism are reinstating themselves. How can they not? These are the ideals of the Coalition and the Moralist International. Those guys are signal blue. And they're not only good -- they're also powerful. What will it be like, once their nuanced plans have been realized?

Completion bonuses: Moralist dialogue heals 1 Morale Learning cap for Volition raised to 5 Learning cap for Logic raised to 5

SOLUTION:

The Kingdom of Conscience will be exactly as it is now. Moralists don't really *have* beliefs. Sometimes they stumble on one, like on a child's toy left on the carpet. The toy must be put away immediately. And the child reprimanded. Centrism isn't change -- not even incremental change. It is *control*. Over yourself and the world. Exercise it. Look up at the sky, at the dark shapes of Coalition airships hanging there. Ask yourself: is there something sinister in moralism? And then answer: no. God is in his heaven. Everything is normal on Earth.

INDIRECT MODES OF TAXATION

Temporary research bonus: -2 Empathy: Cold blooded

PROBLEM:

First, if you have a side-bitch ideology cooking somewhere, don't sweat it. Fightin' indirect taxation for the Gossamer State is compatible with *all* creeds. It's cool like that. You're a cool anarchist now. Unless you don't want to be an anarchist. Whatever! Stuff this meal ticket in your eye-socket and let's see if we can steal some *love* back from the robber barons at the customs agency and the *banditos* at The Insulindian Financial Oversight and Competition Committee.

Completion bonuses: -1 Empathy: Thinks he's a hustler or something Ultraliberal dialogue options give +1 real

SOLUTION:

Turns out those Financial Oversight Committee gangsters stuffed millions of hard-earned dividends away in the last place anyone thought to look: the hearts and minds of everyday Revacholians! You need to spread that deregulation gospel to the *people*. Tell them about that foreign fare tax. Preach that 98% gross burden. Preach it, preacher man! Set the brothas free. Taxes are racist.

Even with those, there are still *eighteen* Thoughts remaining in the game that we didn't encounter - either because we didn't have high enough stats, didn't pick the right dialogue options, or chose not to put any points into fascism. Some of them are mutually exclusive with Thoughts we did pick, some require *really complicated* methods to find. A few of them give us some more interesting backstory on Harry and Kim that's worth hearing -- but I'll let you uncover that on your own time.

[disco-elysium-via-polls]

The following is a case file from Harry's ledger that seems to have been cut from the game. The text and audio is all still there in the game files, but the option to read it is inaccessible.

>Read a case file.

LOGIC - It takes about half an hour to piece one together, using the system you've devised. Which one do you want?

>COLLAPSING TENEMENT

DAMAGED LEDGER - This one's bad. Not that far from Precinct 41 -- in Central Jamrock -- there is an eight story apartment building with two hundred residents inside. It's the dead of winter, January. Snowing. Someone's beating their wife. It's half past midnight.

You get a complaint -- no one's there to take it. So you do call duty. The beating is taking place on the eighth floor. You take the elevator up. The building's creaking around you. Cold as hell. It's a run down old place. Concrete panels, rats everywhere.

And it's not pretty in the apartment either. By the time you arrive the husband's left. His wife has got her lip busted, face swollen. Eyes shut. Can't leave him, they're a *financial unit*. Enjoying this beautiful life in this beautiful tenement.

So anyway -- you take a leak before you leave.

In the apartment I got the call to?

DAMAGED LEDGER - Yes, cops do that. *While* you're taking a piss, you see a big crack in the wall. In the outer wall of the building. You can *feel* the cold air blow in. You take the elevator down, look up -- a big crack runs on the outer wall of the whole building.

Right from the foundation -- up to the eighth floor.

VISUAL CALCULUS [Easy: Success] - Oh god...

INLAND EMPIRE [Easy: Success] - No, no, no, no...

HALF LIGHT [Easy: Success] - Fucking hell.

The tilt is beyond the point of maximum deviation from the gravity bearing perpendicular. This means that the building is falling -- and will fall no matter what.

DAMAGED LEDGER - That's right. They trained you for this in cop school. Everyone has to pick a civil specialization so they can keep the city running: fire safety, first aid training, and so on. You took *building safety regulation*. And it tells you that this one -- is coming down.

+5 XP

Maybe not tonight. Maybe not even tomorrow. Maybe not the day after, but it's coming down. In a matter of days. It is physically impossible for it not to. And the two hundred people in there? They are all going down with it. The woman with the busted lip, the husband who beats her, their kids in the other room...

The drunk in the hallway. The girl in the elevator when you were going up. The youths on the stairs, laughing, smoking. The couple next to the apartment -- who made the call. They're all going to die.

But, you see, it's *freezing* outside. And there is no municipal government in Revachol. Nowhere to put these people. Two hundred people can't go to their *aunt's for a couple of days*. And above all -- there is no one to *tell* the building is coming down. No authority but you.

I'm gonna have to knock on every door and explain them how load bearing perpendiculars work?

I'm gonna have to go home and do nothing, not think about this ever again.

I'm gonna have to find my captain somewhere, first thing tomorrow. Maybe even *tonight*.

DAMAGED LEDGER - Bad, bad thoughts go through your head. So what you do is -- you call your partner. JV (only initials available) is up. He comes immediately. He didn't take building safety, but he believes you. He brings five more officers. Together you knock on *every door* and explain the situation.

The load bearing perpendicular. The maximum deviation. All of it... Some people believe you. Most don't. Some you have to *forcibly* remove. Some even pull guns on you. It takes 20 hours to evacuate the whole building. 200 people stand outside in the cold. Children cry.

Your captain puts them in a half-burned building 10 km South. It's got black mould and no roof, but hey -- it's better than death.

And then what?

DAMAGED LEDGER - And then the building doesn't come down. And it still hasn't. That was 52 days ago. BUT THAT IS NOT THE POINT. The point is -- it *will* come down.

+5 XP

Am I *absolutely* sure?

And when it does, everyone in there will die.

If it hasn't, it won't. I was wrong.

Oh god, I don't know...

DAMAGED LEDGER - 100000000000%

2. And when it does, everyone in there will die.

DAMAGED LEDGER - At the end of the day -- no one knows. The math says it *must* collapse. And the optics show that it doesn't. It's as if some kind of *evil spirit* is holding the tenement together, like the jaws of a trap. Luring the people back in. One by one. Already they're going... At least 40 of them are living there now.

As we speak. And you can't *keep* them from going back, because they all hate you. They despise you. They think you threw them out of their homes. Every day they despise you more -- and every day, more of them go back.

And every day is a day closer to the day the building will fall.

DAMAGED LEDGER - Exactly. These notes have been very clear. Seems you have been thorough with documenting this one. So -- which one of these do you want to read *next*? (Because there is nothing you can do about THE COLLAPSING TENEMENT).

[disco-elysium-via-polls]

DEVP was great, an excellent idea. Good run everybody.

thanks!

[disco-elysium-via-polls]

I'll miss this so much 😭❤️❤️❤️

Stay tuned! A few people have asked me for a retrospective and there's maybe some other things I want to do as well

[disco-elysium-via-polls]

🎵 Off We Go Into The Wild Pale Yonder

I was going to post the entire credits here but it was too large of a video. I have uploaded them to YouTube here.

[disco-elysium-via-polls]

🎵 Precinct 41 Major Crimes Unit

"*SIX* years?"

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Yeah... Or seven? You're not doing too good there. It's an old-man thing. Two *old-years* equals one normal year. That -- and Dora Ingerlund really tore you a new one. A big one."

"Who was she?"

"*Now* I've heard enough."

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Incredibly bangable?"

"Are you *seriously* using this moment to assert male privilege!?!"

"Huh?"

"Figures."

"No, I meant -- what did she do?"

KIM KITSURAGI - "He is very passionate about this."

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Okay, you're right. She was extremely fuckable, Harry. Gorgeous. A gorgeous bourgeois woman. Waifish. Like a *welkin* basically."

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Medium: Success] - Snow Welkin. Blonde Welkin...

INLAND EMPIRE [Easy: Success] - Heartbreak Welkin.

PAIN THRESHOLD [Medium: Success] - Pain Welkin.

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "I've only seen a picture -- but it's obvious you formed a real spiritual connection with how *pretty* she was. One you never recuperated from."

JUDIT MINOT - "Look..." She turns to face the sea. "The sun is going down. It's time to go home."

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "I think she taught in the Académie des Arts, east of the river. Way east. Hard to say which came first -- the middle class chick or the drink? Egg and the chicken kinda thing..."

"My point is, you need to see a *psychiatrist* about this shit. Not a psychologist -- several degrees harder. Is there's something harder than a psychiatrist?" He pauses to think. "A forensic psychiatrist. Go talk to that."

RHETORIC [Medium: Success] - In other words -- he's heard *enough* about this.

3. "Okay. Am I a dirty cop working for La Puta Madre?"

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "No."

"No? Because a suspect seemed to think..."

"Okay then."

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "You're too unstable to work for a mob boss. You're suicidal, Harry. No mob boss would take you."

+5 XP

TRANT HEIDELSTAM - "I assure you -- I wouldn't consult for a corrupt unit."

LOGIC [Medium: Success] - He would immediately backpedal out of it.

VOLITION [Easy: Success] - I told you it's not that bad.

4. "Precinct 41… what kind of station is it?"

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Us? We're the *Bloody Murder Station*, haven't you heard? We're the bad guys. No one likes us."

KIM KITSURAGI - "That's not true. Jamrock is too big for one precinct. You're just understaffed. And everyone respects the 41st -- you have Captain Pryce."

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Thank you, lieutenant. You're being kind. It *is* an understaffed station and the district *is* too big -- which is why we need to..." He tilts his head northward...

JUDIT MINOT - "... get back to it. We left Torson and McLaine to run the C-Wing. It's not good."

"Torson and McLaine?"

"And the C-Wing is…"

"And Pryce is..."

"Did we recently shoot up a church by any chance?" (Point to the church.)

"So I work in the Bloody Murder Station?" (Conclude.)

JUDIT MINOT - "Mack 'The Torso' Torson and Chester McLaine --" She arches an eyebrow. "They're not fit to run a wing. Believe me. Things are shaky as it is."

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Medium: Success] - They *are* damn iconic though -- Torson and McLaine!

"An iconic duo I take it?"

Not now.

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Yeah -- not like *us*. Two clinically depressed old men. Where's the contrast here? We're garbage."

2. "And the C-Wing is…"

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "God..." He sighs. "There are four wings, Harry: A, B, C, and D. We're in C. It's made of losers and clock-punchers. You and I *re-conceptualized* it as a task force. It was a mistake."

TRANT HEIDELSTAM - "There's also a lot of outside help involved. Not only me." He smiles. "Other losers too."

SUGGESTION [Easy: Success] - He's anything but a loser. Although he would like to be seen as one. It's cooler that way.

3. "And Pryce is..."

JUDIT MINOT - "Ptolemy Pryce? He's the son of the old Pryce -- one of the founders of the RCM."

KIM KITSURAGI - "He's one of the most highly regarded men in the force. You're lucky."

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Easy: Success] - Somewhere under the curved roof of a former silk factory, shaped like a ladybird with two chimneys, Police Captain Ptolemy Pryce sits behind a heavy wooden desk. Resident medic Nix Gottlieb pours him coffee. It's silent in the captain's office...

They speak of change. The city. The tension on the streets. They speak of the events of April and the blood on the streets in May.

4. "Did we recently shoot up a church by any chance?" (Point to the church.)

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "So he remembers *that*... Yes, there may have been a raid on *some* churches. It wasn't good press."

TRANT HEIDELSTAM - "Shooting up churches never is. I was out of town, to be clear...."

"What happened? Why did we need to go there?"

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Our *enemies* were hiding in *a* church -- to the best of our information. That's it. I'm not talking about this anymore. Your security clearance is *shit-tier* right now. You have to wait for it to go up."

+5 XP

AUTHORITY [Easy: Success] - He means it. The RCM and its enemies will not be discussed on this coast.

PERCEPTION (HEARING) [Challenging: Success] - Your clearance will not go up while you're within earshot of the Union headquarters.

5. "So I work in the Bloody Murder Station?" (Conclude.)

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Okay -- it's not the Bloody Murder Station. It's an old converted silk mill with green desk lamps and a coffee corner. A lot of good people work there. Hard. Every day."

JUDIT MINOT - "Jamrock is the largest ghetto in Revachol. Faubourg, technically... but it's divided into *eleven* districts. Jamrock only has us."

KIM KITSURAGI - "The press will blow over," he says in a reassuring tone. "Jamrock is lucky to have you. And it's often considered to be the greatest of the districts -- you're lucky to have it."

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Thank you again, lieutenant."

5. "The phasmid -- I need to tell Lena about this ASAP."

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Who is Lena?"

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Easy: Success] - She lives at 1113 Tabernacle Road, in Jamrock. Remember?

"A cryptozoologist. She lives in Jamrock, on Tabernacle road. She told me about this phasmid."

"No one. Forget it."

JUDIT MINOT - "Tabernacle? It's on the way over. Near where you live, on Perdition..." She looks at Vicquemare.

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Fine. If we're gonna drop you off anyway."

KIM KITSURAGI - "She and her husband were conducting the search for the phasmid. It's their discovery -- in part."

"They should know as soon as possible. It would do you good to deliver some positive news for a change."

SUGGESTION [Easy: Success] - She is going to be over the moon.

ENDURANCE [Medium: Success] - Watch out or she'll faint.

6. "Lieutenant Kitsuragi -- what will you do now?"

KIM KITSURAGI - "Well -- first I will go back to my station and write the most detailed report anyone has ever seen. It will have to be good to cover all this. Then I will have a serious talk with my captain."

"About what?"

KIM KITSURAGI - "Detective, we just stopped a small-scale war. Something is happening to Revachol." He takes a look around -- into the deepening shadows of the streets -- then pulls up his collar.

"I don't know what, yet -- but it's going to be a hard spring for the RCM. We need to get ready. Infiltrate. Investigate."

SHIVERS [Challenging: Success] - Distant traffic. A scrap of newspaper drifts by, carried by the wind.

PERCEPTION (SIGHT) [Legendary: Success] - It says: "Tensions rise in Terminal YC In light of the Débardeurs' strike in Terminal B, among representatives of heavy industry in Coal City..." you read.

INLAND EMPIRE [Easy: Success] - Le Retour...

"Wait, you mean The Return?"

"Want to do that at Station 41?"

"Good luck with your report."

KIM KITSURAGI - "Perhaps..." He watches the scrap of newspaper hit the ground. "There are people who say the Zone of Control will not hold up long. They're not on the radio -- yet. But there are parties out there..."

TRANT HEIDELSTAM - "Yes." His face darkens. "I hear worries -- from systems analysts in Vesper and Messina. International risks departments in banks. People like that."

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "We've been hearing whispers in Jamrock too. Ever since fall. I agree that something is happening. People are tense. I hear a fan spinning. Fast. Something is about to hit it."

2. "Want to do that at Station 41?"

KIM KITSURAGI - "Talk to Captain Pryce? I'd rather not ruffle the feathers of *two* captains with my doom-mongering."

"No, I meant *investigate*. Come work in Precinct 41."

"Yeah. Sure."

KIM KITSURAGI - "Work *with* Pryce?" A crooked smile quivers on his lips. "I'm flattered, but I don't know if I..."

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Easy: Success] - Would fit in? Am crazy enough? Can take the stress? He doesn't know how to finish the sentence.

RHETORIC [Medium: Success] - This truly came as a surprise to him. Not a bad one. But he's at a loss.

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Flattered? You're Lieutenant Kitsuragi. *We* would be flattered if you even considered..."

KIM KITSURAGI - "I would have to tie things up in GRIH first. But... I mean, whatever is coming -- Jamrock *will* be more central to it than the harbour." The lieutenant turns very serious all of a sudden.

+5 XP

JUDIT MINOT - "And we also have a huge case load, lieutenant," she says with a smile. "Piles that we need to get back to. Mountains, even."

KIM KITSURAGI - "I do like the sound of that..." He returns her smile.

RHETORIC [Medium: Success] - He's *really* considering it.

7. "I'm ready." (End.)

JUDIT MINOT - "Good." She looks at you, then Vicquemare...

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Fuck it, let's go." The man points down the street. "Trant brought his motor carriage. It's a 20 minute drive to Jamrock."

SHIVERS [Medium: Success] - Under the night sky the great district sleeps: A black chessboard of old wooden houses, 80,000 living souls inside. Firetraps as far as the eye can see -- from Main Street to Precinct 41 atop the motorway, to Boogie Street forking into the darkened horizon...

You close your eyes and hear the dogs bark. A lone woman sits by a factory window, dreaming of meteorite strikes. On Rue Saint-Gérôme a square bullet slides into a square-shaped chamber. In Old South a man without eyelids smiles. Spring has come. It's time.

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Easy: Success] - "Torson?" "Yes." "McLaine?" "Yes." "Heidelstam?" "No." "Vicquemare?" "Yes." "Du Bois?" "Of course."

"Really?" Nix Gottlieb looks up from the list. "I hear he's unstable." "You say that like it's a *bad* thing," Captain Ptolemy Pryce gestures with a ball point pen. It's dim in the office and the curtains are drawn. "Harry's our man, he'll pull through. When he does, he'll side with the people." "Understood." Gottlieb returns to the list. "Minot?" "Of course."

JUDIT MINOT - "Wonderful," the woman looks north. "Then can we please just go back to Jamrock now?"

[disco-elysium-via-polls]

Encyclopedia - Vaasa is where beautiful and impossibly blonde people come from.

You - "So we weren't even married..."

Jean Vicquemare - "No one is married anymore. This is Revachol."

You - "When was this?"

Jean Vicquemare - "God, I don't know..." He thinks. "Six years ago? She was way before my time."

Volition - Six years and you haven't gotten over it, what the hell is wrong with you?

"*SIX* years?"

"Oh okay. Six years is not that much."

"It couldn't have been six. Three. Let's go with three."

[show results]

Voting ended onAug 5, 2024

[disco-elysium-via-polls]

🎵 Precinct 41 Major Crimes Unit

"Vrrr… Viva la Revolución!"

+1 Communism

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Cool. To me it sounds like you got played by Evrart Claire. And it's true -- you *are* his little peone.""

"Is that why you want us to investigate the assassination of the previous Union head thing? To get off Evrart's hook?"

KIM KITSURAGI - "No. It's *nothing* like that. He was reckless with information -- but ethical. We don't owe anyone anything. This allowed us to stabilize things in Martinaise."

JUDIT MINOT - "God... Calm down, Jean."

REACTION SPEED [Medium: Success] - Silence. Good. The man doesn't know what to say.

6. "There was also a dead man -- on the boardwalk. A missing person I found."

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Yes-yes. Fallen through a gap in the boardwalk, drunk."

"How did you know I found him?"

JUDIT MINOT - "The body was transported to Precinct 41. Our morgue. I had Tillbrook and Mollins take care of funeral arrangements and family-stuff."

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "You're not the only cop in the world, Harry. This all comes back to us."

JUDIT MINOT - "Still," she says quietly. "Good work with the missing person, detective."

AUTHORITY [Easy: Success] - It's still a point for you. No denying it.

7. "I also looked into the mystery of the Doomed Commercial Area."

JEAN VICQUEMARE - He shrugs. "I don't know what a 'Doomed Commercial Area' is."

"Rue de Saint-Ghislaine 10. A commercial building where all businesses go bankrupt. I looked into it."

"The curse turned out to be possibly entroponetical. Part of my larger investigation -- into Martinaise itself."

"Nothing. It's not important."

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "No, it didn't -- it didn't turn out to be entroponetical *again*. Enough with the isolary-pale two-millimetre-hole-in-the-world line. This isn't Paradox B. We're a police force."

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Medium: Success] - Paradox B is a fringe science magazine published in Graad. Its mission is to explain theories like telekinesis and intraisolary pale, before they get out of hand.

KIM KITSURAGI - It doesn't look like the lieutenant wishes you to push this angle further.

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Easy: Success] - 'Cut it out' is indeed what he is thinking.

8. "I confiscated drugs from Cuno's dad."

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Who's *Cuno*?"

KIM KITSURAGI - "You don't want to know."

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "You're right, lieutenant -- I don't." He turns to you. "You snorted the drugs, I know you did. It's all right, I mean, at this point -- *anything* is but the drink."

9. "So what do you say? Wanna take this hot shit back?" (Point to yourself.)

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "I don't *want* to. But you discovered a new species. And solved the murder..." He shrugs.

"So I *have* to. Jude?"

JUDIT MINOT - "Anything that ends the *trial* is okay with me." A quick nod.

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Medium: Success] - You haven't been drinking, she thinks. So maybe this time...

TRANT HEIDELSTAM - "Agreed. The public relations potential of this is too valuable to let go."

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Okay." He sighs. "We have vehicles in the square. And the perpetrator needs to be taken into custody. Let's go."

Task complete: The Return

+10 XP

INLAND EMPIRE [Easy: Success] - Now! Now you will *finally* get to know who you are!

"Wait. I have a *few* questions before we go. About who I am."

JEAN VICQUEMARE - The man looks westward, impatiently.

PERCEPTION (HEARING) [Medium: Success] - Jingling his car keys in his pocket.

"Who *am* I?"

"Why am I *like* this?"

"Okay. Am I a dirty cop working for La Puta Madre?"

"Precinct 41… what kind of station is it?"

"The phasmid -- I need to tell Lena about this ASAP."

"Lieutenant Kitsuragi -- what will you do now?"

"I'm ready." (End.)

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Who *are* you? You're a gym teacher, Harry."

"What?"

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Well -- obviously you're not a gym teacher anymore, but..."

+5 XP

"But before..."

JUDIT MINOT - "Before you were a cop, you were a gym teacher in Couron." She looks around. "It's getting really cold outside. Should we maybe..."

"That does explain a lot."

"No way. I was a flagellant monk."

"A guerrila soldier / gym teacher?"

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "No," he remarks dryly, "a regular one."

2. "No way. I was a flagellant monk."

JUDIT MINOT - "You haven't told us about that -- you've just told us about being a gym teacher."

"That does explain a lot."

KIM KITSURAGI - "Harry... it explains *everything*. The running around. The jumping. The *shot-put*. Your inexplicable facial hair..."

"The collection of FALN sportswear I've amassed..."

KIM KITSURAGI - "The fact that you don't seem to *know* what homo-sexuality is... Your moves on the church floor -- which, honestly, were just *jump aerobics*... And how you're able to perform a 360-degree spin-kick too!"

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT [Medium: Success] - Also -- *this* guy. Just... everything about this guy.

SAVOIR FAIRE [Medium: Success] - And this guy too.

HAND/EYE COORDINATION [Medium: Success] - God... even this javelin-throwing freak here...

"Oh god -- *Contact Mike*..."

KIM KITSURAGI - "Of course! Contact Mike!"

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "He's been on about Mike again?" The detective shakes his head. "I hate that guy."

"Contact Mike is a reprise of the most inspiring basic sporting principle of open competition! A 5,000-1 rank outsider!"

"When was this? When was I a gym teacher?"

"You said in Couron? I was a gym teacher there?"

"Why did I join the RCM then?"

"Okay. I see now." (Conclude.)

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Oh -- you don't say?" He arches an eyebrow. "Does he also *vault an impassible gulf of finance and privilege*?"

JUDIT MINOT - "It is... it *is* getting cold out..." She looks around -- at the dilapidated fishing village.

2. "When was this? When was I a gym teacher?"

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "In your twenties or late twenties. You've really let yourself go since then." He looks you over.

3. "You said in Couron? I was a gym teacher there?"

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Yes, you *taught gym* in Couron. I believe that's the term? Taught gym at a high school. You were a high school gym teacher."

PERCEPTION (SMELL) [Easy: Success] - The smell of sweat and glue, the worn floorboards...

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Medium: Success] - Couron is just east of Jamrock. It was a short walk, every morning -- to the baseball field or the sports building...

KIM KITSURAGI - "High school. Harry! Your goings-on with Cuno, Andre, Acele -- the whole thing on the ice. That's why you're so *juvie*."

EMPATHY [Easy: Success] - His smirk suggests barely contained laughter.

4. "Why did I join the RCM then?"

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "The regular -- you found some chick. She inspired you to fight the *big fight*. Be more than you are. All that."

INLAND EMPIRE [Trivial: Success] - You, every morning, walking from Voyager Road to teach gym. She -- leaving for the academy with her spring coat on. The air filled with the smell of smoke and raspberries and incredible hope. An ocean full of hope.

5. "Okay. I see now." (Conclude.)

KIM KITSURAGI - "I knew it. I knew no normal human being can run like that. He's an-honest-to-god gym teacher."

2. "Why am I *like* this?"

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "It's not a mystery. Some chick fucked you over. Also, you're a drunk."

PAIN THRESHOLD [Medium: Success] - You really went with it too. Really maximized the damage.

"Some chick -- who?"

"Was she called Dora Du Bois?"

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Du Bois?" He shakes his head. "It was... Dora Ingerlund, I think. You've said her name. But you weren't married. You were engaged."

"Wait, Dora Ingerlund?"

"So we weren't even married…"

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Something like that. Half-Vaasan."

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Medium: Success] - Vaasa is where beautiful and impossibly blonde people come from.

2. "So we weren't even married..."

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "No one is married anymore. This is Revachol."

"When was this?"

"I've heard enough." (End it.)

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "God, I don't know..." He thinks. "Six years ago? She was way before my time."

VOLITION [Easy: Success] - Six years and you haven't gotten over it, what the hell is wrong with you?

[disco-elysium-via-polls]

2. "I did it for the World Revolution."

+1 Communism

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "..."

"Vrrr… Viva la Revolución!"

"Eat the pigs!"

"Yeah. But for, like, conservative Revolution."

"Yeah -- I actually just got manipulated into it."

[show results]

Voting ended onAug 4, 2024